In
a twist to President Muhammadu Buhari’s order for the probe of two former
Chiefs of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Azubuike Ihejirika and Lt. -Gen. Kenneth
Minimah, and 52 others, over arms procurement scandal, some retired military
officers and other Nigerians have said that the probe should be extended to the
Minister of Interior, Lt. -Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), and the current
Chief of Army Staff, Lt.-Gen. Tukur Buratai.

They
questioned the exclusion of Dambazau and Buratai from the list of those to be
probed when the chief of army staff was the Director of Military Procurement
during the period the arms scandal was alleged to have been committed.

They
said the call for Buratai’s probe became more necessary given the revelation
that the Chief of Army Staff bought $1.5m properties in Dubai with “stolen
money.”

The
affected persons include 18 serving and retired personnel, 12 serving and
retired public officials and 24 chief executive officers of companies involved
in the arms procurements between 2011 and 2015.

The
move had followed Buhari’s approval of the recommendation of the Presidential
Committee on the Audit of Defence Equipment Procurement in the Armed Forces led
by AVM Jon Ode (retd.).

In
June, the Nigerian Army Council had retired a former aide de camp to
ex-President Goodluck Jonathan; Col. Ojogbane Adegbe; a former Principal
Secretary to an ex -National Security Adviser, Col. Sambo Dasuki (retd.); Col.
Nicholas Achinze, a former ADC to the late President Umaru Yar’Adua, Brig. Gen.
A. H. Sa’ad; and 57 other senior officers for their involvements in the
scandal.

However,
the retired military officers said the President’s war against corruption
should be impartially prosecuted. One of them, Col. Kunle Falayi (retd.)
expressed support for the ongoing anti-graft war, but urged the President to
ensure that it was not one-sided.

Falayi
said, “But if it is true he (Buratai) has stolen money or that he partook in
the mismanagement of the arms funds, there should no reason why he should be
exempted from being probe.

“He
should be invited for probe if he has stolen, but if it is found that he has
not stolen any money, he should be allowed to continue with his work.”

On
the allegation that Buratai’s total emoluments since he was commissioned in the
Army could not support the mansions he bought in Dubai, Falayi said, “Buratai
should be able to explain how he got the money with which he bought the
properties. I have nothing against that; he should be made to explain the
source of the money. All I know is that I support President Buhari’s war against
corruption, but the war should be total; nobody suspected to have stolen public
money should be exempted from probe.”

Another
retired military officer, Col. Tony Nyiam, who commended Buhari for creating
the condition engendering the probing of departments of the Federal Government
used to be treated as “sacred cows”, however, said it would be unfair to leave
out Buratai from the probe.

“The
Director of Procurement within the period being investigated should certainly
be asked to help enquiry or be called in as a witness to give more information
or as someone whom the allegations against him should be checked. In other
words, the probe has to involve him.

“The
President has an opportunity to show that his war against corruption is not
biased because there are so many allegations in the air.”

In
the same vein, a former military administrator, who spoke on condition of
anonymity, faulted how Buhari is handling the allegations against Buratai.

“There
is no doubt that the anti-corruption war is a one-sided campaign, but even
beyond that, there is the issue of lopsided appointments and nepotism in
Buhari’s government,” he said.

A
former Commissioner of Police in Lagos State, Alhaji Abubakar Tsav, who also
described the source of Buratai’s wealth as unexplained, asked that the army
chief should be probed.

Tsav
said the impression given by Buhari’s government so far showed that the
administration had been using double standard on the anti-corruption issue.

He
said, “People are saying that Buratai declared his assets with the Code of
Conduct Bureau, but even if he did, how did he get the whopping sum of money to
acquire the property in Dubai? How much does he earn in a year?

“These
things are unreasonable; the government is giving the impression that it is
being partisan and taking sides.

“He
(Buratai) should be investigated. If Minimah and Ihejirika will be
investigated, Buratai should also be investigated so that we can know the
truth. And if the government knows what we don’t know, it should lay it bare to
members of the public so that it will be left to the court of public opinion to
recommend to the government but taking sides is not good enough.

“If
a President comes to serve, he takes the oath that he is going to be fair to
all manners of people, so he should be fair to all manner of people. The
government said it found huge funds in the farm of a person but it has not told
us whose farm it is. We want to know. Is the man a soldier or a politician?”

Recently,
an editorial of July 10 edition of Sunday
PUNCH, had described the situation as “a major credibility test for
the President’s campaign against corruption.”

It
said, “President Muhammadu Buhari’s fledgling war on corruption has reached a
critical juncture. In a case that has generated outrage, the Chief of Army
Staff, Tukur Buratai, has been accused of buying two houses in Dubai, United
Arab Emirates, at a cost of $1.5m.

“Curiously,
the Nigerian Army has admitted that Buratai, indeed, owns the assets, saying,
however, that he bought them with his savings in 2013.”

But
some of the retired military officers, who spoke to Saturday PUNCH officers and some online
commentators, have also questioned the exclusion of the Minister of Interior,
Lt. -Gen. Abdulrahman Dambazau (retd.), from the list of persons to be probed.

According
to Nyiam, who called on Buhari to probe all persons in his government with
corruption allegations against them, “many of the contracts being looked at had
their genesis in the period that Dambazau was Chief of Army Staff.”

He
said, “So as to avoid accusations of double standard, the period when President
Umaru Yar’Adua was ill should be looked into because there was much stealing
and corruption as the Commander-in-Chief was not well.

“If
not added, it would make the fight against corruption questionable and it will
make it look one-sided. It will be as if it is only the Chiefs of Army Staff
from the South that are being probed.”

Also,
on the PUNCH
website, some of the comments trailing the report: ‘Arms scandal: Buhari orders
probe of Ihejirika, Minimah, 52 others’, accused the Federal Government of bias
by leaving out Buratai and Dambazau in the names of people to be probed over
the arms scandal.

A
commentator, General Sam Bockerie, said,“So how did Lt. General Abdulrahman
Dambazau become the only former Chief of Army Staff who has no explanation to
do? What did he do differently? Or was he left off the hook because he is a
northerner?

“Where
is Colonel Jafaru Isa that was arrested and released on the grounds that he
refunded some National Security Adviser office’s funds? Didn’t former Chief of
Air Staff, Air Marshal Adesola Amosu (retd.) – a Yoruba man, also refund
money? Why is Amosu being prosecuted while Jafaru is walking around a free man?
Your guess is as good as mine! What about Tukur Buratai that ‘saved’ so
handsomely to buy foreign properties in his wife’s name? Anti-corruption war
indeed!”